Spending your weekend in Penang? Do check out this 24-hour guide to eating on the island non-stop, written by me for TimeOut Penang 2012. Hope everyone have a great time indulging in all the flavourful food, rich in spices and herbs from the many restaurants and hawker stalls in Penang.

6am – 7am: Special Famous Roti Canai56 Jalan Transfer
Open daily, 6.30am-1pm, 3.30pm-7pm
Soak in the slow pace of life in Penang with breakfast at this road side stall, which is famous for its crispy roti canai. There are several varieties of curries to complement the roti canai – mutton, beef, chicken, fish and dhall. The place is usually packed with customers waiting for a table.

7am – 8am: Toh Soon CafeLebuh Campbell, off Jalan Penang (+604 261 3754)
Open Mon-Sat, 7am-6pm
This side street cafe has been operating for almost 50 years, offering a light breakfast of half boiled eggs, steamed bread, nasi lemak and charcoal toast bread. The owner has kept the tradition of toasting the bread on a specially-made clay stove embedded in a tin drum. The homemade bread is spread with choices of kaya (coconut jam with pandan leaves), butter and peanut butter.

9am – 10am: Ferringhi Coffee Garden43-D Batu Ferringhi (+604 885 1192)
Open daily, 7am-10.30pm
The menu at this garden restaurant showcases a good selection for breakfast, using free range eggs, home-baked bread and Italian-style espresso coffee. A good option is the club sandwich with two thick slices of housebaked focaccia bread with turkey ham, mozzarella cheese, omelette, grilled beef, smoked salmon and plenty of greens.

10am – 11am: Ais TingkapLebuh Tamil (Beside Chowrasta Market)
The classic ais tingkap (or windows sherbet) is so named because it used to be sold through an open window. The sweet red rose syrup drink is a mixture of getah anggur (olibanum gum resin), biji selasih (basil seeds), kembang semangkuk (jelly) and fragrant herbs, served in a glass with fine shaved ice and pieces of coconut flesh.

11am – 12noon: Tho Yuen Chicken Rice Restaurant94 Lebuh Campbell (+604 261 4672)
Open daily, 6am-3pm
This bustling Cantonese restaurant serves a variety of noodles, porridge and chicken rice during lunch hour. Noodle dishes include fish head steamed with noodles, a stir-fried mix of hor fun and vermicelli and braised duck noodle with ginger. Sui kow (dumpling) soup comes with a generous amount of water chestnuts and minced pork meat. Don’t forget their signature oval-shaped egg tarts which are usually sold out by early morning.

12noon – 1pm: Miraku Japanese Restaurant168A Persiaran Gurney, First floor (+604 229 8702/ www.miraku-restaurant.com)
Open daily, 12noon-2.30pm, 6pm-10.30pm
If you are looking for something beyond the usual Japanese cuisine, then head over to this Japanese restaurant. You’ll fing find expertly prepared set meals and course menus made with premium ingredients air-flown from Japan.

1pm – 2pm: Ong Cheng Huat Seafood2004 Bagan Lallang, Butterworth (+604 331 4782)
Open Tue-Sun, 11am-5.30pm
Take a drive over to Ong Cheng Huat located on the mainland. Signature dishes include deepfried baby chicks, deep fried prawn fritters, stir fried mussels and steamed fish. The crunchy deep fried heh piah (prawn fritters) made of popiah skin and prawns make a good starter. The fermented coconut water, known as tuak or toddy, is good enough to drink but a word of advice – you can get drunk drinking this sour and sweet fizzy drink.

4pm – 5pm: Assam Laksa Air Itam MarketPasar Air Itam, Jalan Pasar
Open daily, 11am-8pmAssam Laksa, a noodle fish-based soup, is one of Penang’s signature dishes. The blanched thick white rice noodles in the spicy and sour soup go well with the raw vegetables of cucumber, chillies, onions, spoonful of har koe (shrimp paste), fragrant mint leaves and a touch of ginger flower.

5pm – 6pm: Coffee Lane10-B King Street, George Town (+604 261 0625)
Open Fri-Wed, 11am-8pm
Watch while owner Terry demonstrates his brewing skills at Coffee Lane, a brew-to-order cafe which offers a variety of coffee and chocolate drinks with a few brewing methods including the syphon brewers. Many different types of quality coffee beans from over the world are available for sale including the famous kopi luwak.

6pm – 7pm: Shing Kheang Aun2 Lorong Chulia
Open daily, 11am-2.30pm, 5pm-8.30pm (closed on alternate Mondays)
This non air-conditioned restaurant is popular for its Hainanese food. A unique lift (operated manually) is used to deliver food from the kitchen on the ground floor to the first floor dining area. Specialties of Shing Kheang Aun include curry gulai tumis, kerabu prawns, assam prawns, Hainanese pork and chicken chop.

7pm – 8pm: New LaneLorong Baru, off Jalan Macalister
Open daily, 5pm-11pmNew Lane is a good place for mouth watering street food including grilled fish, roti canai, satay, Hokkien mee, char koay teow, assam laksa and ais kacang. We love the charcoal-grilled Batu Maung satay. The owner still uses the traditional method of fanning the charcoal fire with a hand-held fan. The marinated skewered meat is served with raw onions, cucumber and spicy peanut sauce. Other tasty dishes include the barbeque chicken wings and drumsticks.

8pm – 9pm: Chin’s Stylish Chinese CuisineTanjong City Marina Church Street Pier
8A Pengkalan Weld (+604 261 2611/sohopenang.com)
Open daily, 6pm-11.30pmChin’s Stylish Chinese Cuisine is one of the best fine-dining restaurants on the island. The Heavenly Blessed Joystick is a favourite with skewers of seashell meat, baby abalone and sea fungus, soaked in spicy and pungent chilli oil. Chin’s Aromatic Crispy Duck is another one of their signature dishes. Shredded at the table, the meat is assembled on homemade pancakes with hoisin sauce served with scallions and cucumber.

9pm – 10pm: Adnan Bin Hassan: Ikan Bakar & Nasi Lemak KampungTeluk Tempoyak, Bayan Lepas
Open Tue-Sun, 6pm-11.30pm
Have a fun getaway to this stall which serves ikan bakar (charcoal grilled fish) with assam sambal mixed with onion and chilli. Grilled crabs and prawns are also available and both are served with soy sauce, cili padi and lime. The seafood is best paired with aromatic nasi lemak, prepared with coconut milk and a variety of herbs. Go around 5.30pm if you want to watch the fishermen load fresh seafood.

10pm – 11pm: China House153-155 Beach Street (+604 263 7299/www.straitscollection.com.my)
Open daily, 10am-midnight
The delicious food and cosy environment are some of the many reasons why many people are flocking to the restaurants located in a heritage building. Choose to eat in the elegant surroundings of BTB, their fine-dining restaurant or have a casual meal at their newly revamped Kopi C café.

3am – 4am: Old Green House Restaurant223 Burma Road
Open Mon-Sat, 8pm-4am
Go for a comforting spicy bowl of Penang Hokkien mee at this stall. More commonly known as prawn mee, it comes in a fragrant broth flavoured with the sweetness of prawns and pork ribs. Garnishes include braised egg, beans sprout and chilli paste. Additional toppings of roast pork, chicken feet and fish balls are also available. This place is usually packed until the wee hours of the night.

5am – 6am: Restaurant Kapitan93 Lebuh Chulia (+604 818 2811)
Open daily, 24 hours
A meal at Restaurant Kapitan is a good way to wrap up this food tour. This 24-hour outlet is the place to feast on tandoori chicken, nasi biryani and nutritious badam milk (almond milk). The milk is boiled with raisins, cashew nuts and saffron. The nasi biryani comes with the choice of chicken and beef and is served in claypots, accompanied by a light curry gravy.

* This is a reproduction of my article published in TimeOut Penang 2012 magazine

Many thanks for the information, as I will be travelling to Penang this july.
CK Lam, is it possible for you to write an articles regarding the Halal food in penang. such as where to find the Penang famous laksa,hokkien mee, lor mee, prawn noodle as weel as fried kuah teow.

We are coming to stay in Georgetown, 14 – 21 July. We find your Blogs very informative and cannot wait to get there and start discovering the culture and food.
We are Seniors and would like to meet up if possible for a meal and a chat. We know you must be a busy Lady,so we will understand if you cannot make it a date.

You are are damn good photgrapher, makes mes me hungry, greedy and jealous that you can have all the ‘yum yum’ in Malaysia. Really feel like flying back from Sweden. Anyway keep up the good work! I’ll have ‘SEE FOOD’ instead from this part of the world.

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About CK Lam

Armed with a camera and a huge appetite, this food writer, columnists and editor of What2seeonline.com constantly combs Penang for the best gastronomical delights besides promoting Penang cuisines, culture and heritage.